2012 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

[productive procrastinator]

My first reply started with a rejection from U of Pittsburgh- MCDP Program

"We recently completed a major round of review of the applications for the fall of 2012. Unfortunately, we were unable to offer you a position. The application process was extremely competitive this year, and the number of high quality applicants far exceeded the number of students that we could accept.

We thank you for your interest in our program and for your patience with the review process. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors."

[snehapotdar]

@ productive procrastinator..I just got the same email today.. kinda sad.. wasnt really a great match but I had hopes from there.. All the labs i saw though has tons of students though so I wonder how many are they taking anyway...Where else have u applied?

[hyt5009]

I am still waiting to hear from U of Pitts...

[snehapotdar]

@ hyt5009.. U applied to IBGP rite? I havent heard from them either.. they have interviews till March.. This was from the Dept of Biological Sciences; the MCDB program. I had to applyu to both due to my limited choice of Pittsburgh only.. Did you also apply to Biological Sciences in Pitt?

[Dengue2011]

My interview dates are 2/13 - 2/14 for Structural - Chemical Biology and Molecular Design Track . However, i am in india and i cannot afford travelling all the way to New York for two days of interview. I had opted for Skype interview.

All the best for your interview Alexhll6

I was invited for the same interview dates (for the Microbiology track). As I reside oversea too, I chose a Skype interview instead. Have they scheduled your Skype interview yet? They told me I'd be interviewing with two faculty members and they'll contact me to schedule a convenient time. It has been 2 weeks since the last email. Should I contact the program?

[hyt5009]

@ hyt5009.. U applied to IBGP rite? I havent heard from them either.. they have interviews till March.. This was from the Dept of Biological Sciences; the MCDB program. I had to applyu to both due to my limited choice of Pittsburgh only.. Did you also apply to Biological Sciences in Pitt?

Yes, I applied to IBGP but did not apply to Biological Sciences. I actually wrote a few emails to the administrative person and directors inquiring about my application status/interview invitations but no response at all from any of them. Not sure if we are being wait-listed or forgotten...

[snehapotdar]

@ hyt5009...lol I hope not.. seeing as Pitt IBGP is the only choice I have left.. I am in touch with a couple of Profs from there.. I met one of them last week and he seemed interested in working with me.. If they werent taking any more applicants I'm sure he would have told me so. I think they have 3-4 interview weekends; one of them was on Jan 20th, one on 17th Feb( from one of the grad cafe posts but am not sure how much I trust that).. they still should have a couple in March..so dont lose hope yet.. if I hear anything I shall keep u posted.. Fingers crossed for both of us!!

[hyt5009]

@ snehapotdar,

At this point, I am actually loosing hope for Pitts. I will be having interview with Baylor College of Medicine next week, and I will put all my hope in that...but it would still be nice if I can hear from Pitts though, whether it's a rejection or an interview invitation. Anyway, fingers crossed for both of us!!

[Sulay Patel]

I was invited for the same interview dates (for the Microbiology track). As I reside oversea too, I chose a Skype interview instead. Have they scheduled your Skype interview yet? They told me I'd be interviewing with two faculty members and they'll contact me to schedule a convenient time. It has been 2 weeks since the last email. Should I contact the program?

No i havent heard back from them yet.

[productive procrastinator]

@ productive procrastinator..I just got the same email today.. kinda sad.. wasnt really a great match but I had hopes from there.. All the labs i saw though has tons of students though so I wonder how many are they taking anyway...Where else have u applied?

I have applied to Delaware, Syracuse, SUNY buffalo and rhode island. Haven't heard from any of them back. You?

[snehapotdar]

@ productive procrastinator.. I have a slightly different situation.. I only had Pittsburgh as my option so I applied to CMU, Upitt and Duquesne.. So far I have rejects from Upitt Biology, and no response from CMU and Upitt School of Pharmacy so I am assuming it is a reject.. Al my hopes are now on Dusquene so plz pray for me..

[BreeAnne]

Got interview invitation from Baylor College of Medicine this morning (Yay!!!) for Immunology program. Has anyone gotten admission offer or an interview invitation from Baylor? I really want to know how selective and competitive the program is...cuz so far I got rejections from NYU Sackler, Hopkins School of Public Health, Northwestern and Boston University. Still waiting for responses from Mount Sinai, UVA, Hopkins School of Med for Pathobiology program, Penn State, University of Pittsburgh and UT Southwestern.

I just interviewed there for the TBMM program. I had a really great time and I hope they say yes. I'm not sure how I feel about living in TX, but the cost of living is great. I heard they were interviewing about 40 students for a class of 12 or so (TBMM, not sure about Immuno). They were very nice though so just be yourself and it should work out. Good luck!!!

[Stacy Eriksson]

BreeAnne: For what it's worth, I grew up in Houston (and have temporarily moved back), and I think it's a great city. It's not like New York, so you have to work a little harder to find the fun stuff, but there's definitely a wealth of entertainment, good food, etc. You might want to think about getting a car, if you can afford it, because we're not a walking city and our public transportation isn't too great. Also, we're fairly metropolitan, and a port city, so don't expect to see too many of those gun-toting Christian cowboys from society's collective unconscious.

[BreeAnne]

BreeAnne: For what it's worth, I grew up in Houston (and have temporarily moved back), and I think it's a great city. It's not like New York, so you have to work a little harder to find the fun stuff, but there's definitely a wealth of entertainment, good food, etc. You might want to think about getting a car, if you can afford it, because we're not a walking city and our public transportation isn't too great. Also, we're fairly metropolitan, and a port city, so don't expect to see too many of those gun-toting Christian cowboys from society's collective unconscious.

That's true. The only cowboy hat I saw was at the airport, haha! I did notice I would need a car, which I don't think would be too hard to manage considering a grad student showed me a very spacious apt for $700/mo, a few minutes from campus . . . that paired with a $29,000 salary I don't think it would be hard to afford payments on a pre-owned. I have a car now, but it desperately needs to be traded in (if I go to Houston) or sold (if I go to NYC).

[kgumps2012]

I just had one of those gut wrenching moments when I saw an email from Drexel in my inbox. Turns out they were just letting me know my application is complete and is under review...For the third time. At least it wasn't automated and was personalized from the assistant dean of admissions. HOPE!

[elliotwoongkim]

has anyone been invited to the last weekend of interviews for UCLA access? And has anyone received any information on the weekend? interview lists of anything? I havent heard anything from that program since I have been invited. Any information would be most helpful!!!!

[deundertaker]

Did anyone hear anything thing from any Columbia biomedical science program at Medical campus after interview? Thanks

[jayeyesee]

has anyone been invited to the last weekend of interviews for UCLA access? And has anyone received any information on the weekend? interview lists of anything? I havent heard anything from that program since I have been invited. Any information would be most helpful!!!!

Here's what turns me off about UCLA. They seem REALLY disorganized. Anyway, don't worry about it dude. I haven't received anything yet either for that weekend. Someone said they didn't receive their itinerary until the day before the interview weekend so I wouldn't sweat just yet.

Did anyone hear anything thing from any Columbia biomedical science program at Medical campus after interview? Thanks

If it's the integrated program, I think some people have heard back with admission offers.

[coonskee]

Did anyone hear anything thing from any Columbia biomedical science program at Medical campus after interview? Thanks

I got an email from the director of the Integrated Program on Friday, and got an email to check the website today.

That being said, I know that the program (if it's the one you're talking about) will have rolling-ish admission, so don't lose hope yet! I was told by one of the profs there that after interviews, they accept 25%, reject 25%, and then 50% are in this gray area until they have a better idea of who's accepting and rejecting down the line.

[deundertaker]

@Coonskee

Thanks man, I had my interview on Feb 5th and I was told I should hear back from them in about 2 weeks. My program is Pathobiology and Molecular Medicine.

[paulio]

For the record, Duke are, apparently, still sending out interview invites for computational bio and bioinformatics, even though interviews were last week?

Weird...

[kgumps2012]

For the record, Duke are, apparently, still sending out interview invites for computational bio and bioinformatics, even though interviews were last week?

Weird...

They could be doing Skype interviews or individual interviews instead of one big weekend now that they have a better idea of the people they want to invite / people who are still interested based on attendance of their interview weekend.

[paulio]

Yeah maybe - judging by the submissions there are three of us who received invites today though, which for a relatively small program seems like quite a lot. I wonder if it's because we're "international" applicants? (I am, in as much as my undergrad and masters are not from the US, but I live here now and am a permanent resident).

[snehapotdar]

@hyt5009... Saw a post on grad cafe today for Pitt IBGP.. seems like that person emailed the program co-ordinator and got the reject.. I wonder if I should do that.. part of me wants to know finally (even if its a reject) part of me wants to still wait.. Anyway goodluck with the Baylor interview.. hope u rock it!!

[hyt5009]

I just interviewed there for the TBMM program. I had a really great time and I hope they say yes. I'm not sure how I feel about living in TX, but the cost of living is great. I heard they were interviewing about 40 students for a class of 12 or so (TBMM, not sure about Immuno). They were very nice though so just be yourself and it should work out. Good luck!!!

Thanks! I hope that we both make it! My interview will be 2/23-2/25 so I am anxiously preparing for it. >< I also just got in contact with a current grad student in the program and hopefully she can provide some useful information/hints for interviewing there. I think Immunology is a smaller program and usually just takes 5 students a year (so they invite 12-14 applicants for on site interview each year...at least that's what it said on the website but I think that they also do phone interviews for international students). Hopefully the professors in the program won't be too difficult during the interview!